Love Notes

STOP SNIPINGAMERICAN SNIPER!

RE: Wm. Steven Humphrey's review of American Sniper ["The Terrorists Have Won," Film, Jan 14]. He didn't like it very much.

This is a terrible review. This isn't a movie solely intended for "love-it-or-leave-it-Americans" as the author of this review would make you believe. The movie is as neutral as The Wolf of Wall Street is. It neither glorifies nor demonizes things. It shows the realities of war from the perspective of a Navy Seal sniper, and it's up to the audience and their own set of values to decipher the morality implications of this story. If you don't enjoy war movies, don't go see it.

posted by Kyle Fordham

Is this reviewer kidding? This is a real person's story, not a rewrite of The Hurt Locker. Many veterans have trouble disengaging from combat life. Just because it was a topic covered in The Hurt Locker, does that make it tired and old hat? That's as silly as saying "falling in love has been done." Wouldn't be much art left would there? This loser's real problem is that it doesn't defecate on our military enough for him. Ever occur to you [Chris] Kyle might actually have been fighting some ruthless swine? If you would like to test your theory on the wonderful folk Kyle was fighting, try writing a scathing review about Islam, maybe even throw in a nice illustration of Muhammad, and then head off (unintentional pun) to Syria on vacation. See how well that goes for you.

posted by danielson68

Chris Kyle [the subject of American Sniper], a US Navy Seal from Texas, was deployed to Iraq in 2003 and claimed to have killed more than 255 people during his six-year military career. In his memoir, Kyle reportedly described killing as "fun," something he "loved." "I hate the damn savages," he wrote. "I couldn't give a flying fuck about the Iraqis." He bragged about murdering looters during Hurricane Katrina, though that was never substantiated. This guy is an admitted racist and all but confessed to loving to "dehumanize and kill brown people." It's right there in his book.

DEARMERCURY: I'm just passing through Portland (from Cornish Flat, NH) and as a fellow journalist I was delighted by Lisa Wells' recent article. Pass this kudo on to Lisa—she did a great job!

Henry Homeyer

'BURB FIGHT!

RE: A review ["Proclaim! It's Pollo Norte Time," Last Supper, Jan 14] in which food editor Andrea Damewood notes that to find certain good restaurants one must endure "long, not-so-scenic drives to the 'burbs."

Portland is nothing but a giant suburb. The only ethnically diverse areas are on the far edges of the city. The city "culture" of Portland you allude to was created by people from white suburbs throughout the country. Don't kid or embarrass yourself.

posted by Jake

Way to bring your ignorant smack-talk to a totally unrelated article, Jake. "Suburb" has a well-known and accepted definition, having to do with city limits and other really-hard-to-understand concepts, and your effort to redefine the word is the only self-kidding and embarrassment going on here.

Posted by eprophet

FAREWELL TO DOUCHEBAG

RE: Alex Falcone's annual farewell to things that really bugged him about the preceding year ["Things Not Invited Back in 2015," Feature, Dec 31, 2014].

TO THEMERCURY: I want to thank and congratulate Alex Falcone for causing me to audibly laugh three times within one article. However, it reminded me that what I most want left in 2014 are the words "douchebag" and "douchey."

Am I the only reader old enough to remember when those were epithets reserved for rapers and backstabbing thieves? "Douchebag" used to be tough stuff—up there with "motherfucker" in terms of serious fighting words. And kids these days are tossing it out left and right, when they could much more accurately go with "clown," "rascal," "jerk nose," etc. Comrades, I beg of you, leave douchebag in 2014.

Abraham

GOOD LUCK IN YOUR QUEST, Abraham! For your impassioned plea, you win two tickets to the Laurelhurst Theater—where doucheba... errr, rather, "rascal jerk noses" are confined to the screen.